Select a Home Inspector with Your Best Interest in Mind
Welcome to my blog for homebuyers and homeowners. Here I will share stories about; how to select a home inspector, issues discovered during home inspections that affected the home’s safety and habitability, energy efficiency issues, sustainability issues, and occasionally on information that is totally unrelated to homes and home inspections. I hope that you enjoy this blog and return often.
Blog Post
I’ll start this blog by first defining what a detailed home inspection report is not.
- It is not a home inspection report delivered to you immediately at the end of the physical inspection of the home, either by some type of portable electronic device, or handwritten with a #2 pencil.
- It is not a several page home inspection report prepared from a generic template by someone, other than the home inspector, back in the home inspector’s office via transcribed notes and photos.
No matter how sophisticated on-site reporting technology becomes, it still distracts the inspector from the mission at hand, which is completing a focused inspection of the home. Many inspectors spend as much time fiddling with their hand-held or lap top inspection reporting technology as they do inspecting the home.
And, no matter how competent the home inspector’s office help might be, they were not at the home, they did not see the home, and they did not take the inspection photos, nor are they likely to have the experience and skill-set to analyze inspection photos for issues that might not have been noted during the course of the inspection when the inspector may have been distracted by the attendees of the home inspection, or the sunbathers or pit bull next door.
Preparing home inspection reports by the above described methods benefits the home inspector, not the buyer, by allowing them to rush through inspections and complete 2-5 home inspections per day.
Individuals purchasing homes are making one of the largest investments of their lives, I believe that they deserve a detailed home inspection report.
What is a detailed home inspection report?
A detailed home inspection report is a report that comprehensively addresses everything the home inspector observes, that is recognized by the home inspection industry as either a safety or structural issue, or a deficiency, that if not addressed will affect the efficiency, comfort, and the sustainability of the structure, as well as the cost of home ownership.
Creating this type of a report is not possible by either of the above home inspection reporting methods.
I typically spend 2-3 hours report writing for every 1 hour I spend physically inspecting a home. Why so long? It is because I am preparing a home inspection report for a specific home, not just filling out a generic report template. My reports typically vary in length from 35 pages to well over 100 pages long, and will include captioned photos wherever they will be useful to explain a home deficiency. Homes vary in age, size, and condition – a 10-12 page generic report template would work just fine if a home inspector only inspected small newer homes built by highly skilled craftsmen, but, this type of reporting method just won’t work for the average previously enjoyed home, that likely has not been properly maintained, repaired and updated by skilled craftsman over its lifetime.
Let’s face it….anyone with a Home Depot credit card can call himself a professional contractor these days!
And…scarier yet…New York State does not require electricians to be licensed. True fact….but rest easy…your barber or hair stylist does require a state license…..good thing, because we all know, that unlike unsafe wiring….a bad hair day and kill you!
I believe that a home inspection report should have a shelf-life. I believe the home inspection report should not only assure that unsafe conditions are resolved immediately, but continue to serve a new homeowner by helping them to maintain, sustain, and live safely, and energy efficiently in their new home.
What are the benefits of a detailed home inspection report?
- Practically every home inspection report that I have ever prepared has identified issues that required correction and many of these issues were able to be negotiated in the transaction, but only due to the detail by which they were reported.
Let me explain – if you hire an independent ethical home inspector, they could well be the only completely objective individual involved in the transaction. An independent ethical home inspector will only report the facts – they will have no vested interest in the transaction, only the homebuyer’s wellbeing.
Many home inspectors, let’s just say – like the ones that use the 2-reporting methods I described above, don’t provide details. When they find a deficiency, their report entry might be – “this condition requires further evaluation and correction by a qualified professional”.
The issue with that statement is that when the homebuyer reviews this with anyone that has a vested interest in the transaction, it can be downplayed, trivialized, or even contradicted with so that it won’t interfere with the transaction.
For example – if that statement were used to described a receptacle outlet (wall outlet) discovered to have reversed polarity, a person with an interest in the transaction might say – oh, that won’t hurt you; it will only make your blender run backwards. (Truth – I heard someone tell a homebuyer this when they didn’t think I was within hearing range).
Here is how I typically describe reversed polarity in the detailed section of my home inspection reports:
Full Report Comments:
Reversed Polarity – The ungrounded conductor (hot conductor/black insulated wire) and grounded conductor (neutral/white insulated wire) energizing the wall outlet are reversed. This is a hazardous condition that can result in potential lethal shocks. Reversed polarity generally requires a simple fix.
Consider a light fixture with no bulb. If wired correctly, the only hot (energized) part of the fixture is the out of the way contact at the base of the socket, and this will only be live (hot) when the light is switched on. If wired with reversed polarity, the more accessible threaded collar is live, and this collar will be live whether the light fixture is switched on or not. Appliances plugged into an outlet with reversed polarity still work, but your risk of shock hazards is greater.
Scenario – A bulb in a table or floor lamp blows – one of the home’s occupants removes this with the intent of replacing it immediately – this person gets distracted and the fixture is left without a bulb – another occupant walks into a dark room reaches into the lamp to turn it on – they touch the improperly energized threaded collar – they are shocked (perhaps lethally)
As reported in the summary section – this condition poses a safety hazard to the home’s occupants and guests and requires immediate correction.
NOTE: On a modern polarized receptacle outlet, the hot conductor (black insulated wire) should supply the shorter (narrower) slot of the receptacle outlet, and the neutral (grounded conductor/white insulated wire should supply the longer (wider) slot. Most receptacle outlet manufacturers use gold colored screws on the hot side, and silver colored screws on the neutral side of their receptacles.
Remember – polarity is reversible….electrocution is not!
It’s all in the details. You can live or die with many of the issues that are glossed over or trivialized by someone with an interest in the transaction. An independent ethical inspector preparing a detailed fact filled home inspection report is doing so to protect the homebuyer. It’s hard for anyone with an interest in the transaction to argue with facts when they are documented in detail within the home inspection report.
But…it’s still done all the time. If the person with an interest in the transaction has their own expert come forth with a different opinion, this is what I advise in my reports:
DIFFERING OPINIONS
Don’t be surprised when a seller, an electrician, or anyone with an interest in the transaction claims something is acceptable when I report that it is not. I have no interest in this transaction – I only have an interest in your personal safety and the safety of your investment. Home inspectors are (objective) generalists conducting an essentially visual inspection and recommending specialists in the appropriate area for specific repairs. Some specialists, and other individuals, will disagree with my opinions. I always defer to specialists opinions, since they are supposed to know more than I do. I’ve put my opinions in writing. I feel you should have those who disagree put their opinions in writing also. Ask them to include their professional credentials, and guarantee that the item is safe or acceptable to operate as it is. If they refuse to do so, you need to establish what weight to give each opinion.
The reality is that if you hire a home inspector that was referred to you by anyone with a vested interest in the transaction, without thoroughly checking this home inspector out yourself, you are in jeopardy of hiring a home inspector that may not have your best interest in mind.
Be aware – there are many local home inspectors available that produce home inspection reports of little or no immediate or lasting value, that essentially just give a home a thumbs up at the end of the home inspection.
Please contact Advanced Home Awareness at (585) 245-1190 if you would like to hire an independent ethical home inspector with only your best interest in mind.
Contact Dave for your home inspection needs.
Providing home inspection and radon testing services throughout the Greater Rochester New York Region – Including Monroe, Ontario, Wayne, and Livingston Counties, and the Northern Finger Lakes Area
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